Back in the early 1990s, Greg Norman – then the biggest star in golf- tried to create a professional tour where only 48 of the top players in the world would be allowed to compete with a limited number of tournaments (as opposed to the too-long PGA Tour season) and huge purses. That failed, but out of that venture came the World Golf Championships.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
Those events debuted in 1999 and there are now four of them annually, two in the U.S., one in China and this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship in Mexico City. WGC tournaments have limited fields via qualification standards, which means no cut, and much bigger purses than regular Tour events. They were created to get top players from around the world together in events other than the four major championships. Like the majors, these tournaments are part of both the PGA Tour and European Tour.
The WGC-Mexico Championship debuted as the WGC-American Express Championship in Spain in 1999 and was won by Tiger Woods. It moved around a bit over the years with different sponsorship names and landed in Mexico City starting in 2017. It is played at altitude at the par-71, 7,345-yard Club de Golf Chapultepec.
Woods finished alone in last place this past Sunday at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles and said he’s feeling a bit “rundown” and is thus taking this week off. Woods has won this event seven times, although not since it moved to Mexico. Other big names skipping are Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson (won in Mexico in 2018), Justin Rose, Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Henrik Stenson.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy is the +600 favorite to complete the “WGC Slam” – i.e. win all four of them. He won the most recent one in China in November. Rory was runner-up by five shots in this tournament last year behind Dustin Johnson (+700). That was DJ’s third win in this tournament, second in Mexico. He has completed the “WGC Slam.”
Aussie Adam Scott won Sunday at the Genesis Invitational and is +1800 to go back-to-back. He won this tournament in 2016, the last year it was held at Doral in Florida. Other top contenders on the WGC-Mexico odds for the week ahead include Jon Rahm (+1000), Justin Thomas (+1000), Webb Simpson (+1600), and Hideki Matsuyama (+2000).
